*Former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown has asked a Miami court to dismiss a second-degree attempted murder charge stemming from a May 16 incident, invoking Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law.
According to ESPN, the filing comes weeks after Brown, 37, was extradited from Dubai and arraigned in Miami, where he pleaded not guilty. The case centers on a celebrity boxing match when Brown allegedly fired two shots toward Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, who sustained a grazing neck wound.
Police said surveillance and social media videos show Brown with a gun near Nantambu before two gunshots were fired. The charge carries up to 15 years in prison, though prosecutors indicate the potential sentence could reach 30 years.
Brown’s motion asserts that his actions were justified because he “reasonably believed that the alleged victim intended to cause him serious harm.” It cites Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which “grants individuals the right to use force, including deadly force, without a duty to retreat from a threat.” The defense claims Brown was attempting to reach his car for safety when Nantambu attacked him, and that he fired two “warning shots, intentionally aiming away from Nantambu to ensure he would not be struck.” Brown further asserts that Nantambu took the weapon after a struggle and left the scene.
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Prosecutors and Nantambu’s attorney, Richard L. Cooper, reject Brown’s account. Cooper called the motion “a farcical reimagining” and previously asserted that Brown intended to kill, noting he fled to Dubai thinking he could avoid extradition. Upon his return, Brown was released on $25,000 bail and placed under house arrest with a GPS monitor.
Here’s more from ESPN:
In the May incident, the motion said, Brown was trying to get to his car for safety after Nantambu had attacked him. But police said Brown punched Nantambu in the face and then, along with two others, continued the attack.
Nantambu walked away, according to a police description of the security footage. Brown then “chases him down and shoots at him at point blank range,” according to a prosecutor. Police added that video from social media showed Brown with a gun in his hand near Nantambu. Two gunshots followed. Nantambu ducked after the first shot was heard, police said.
The case now hinges on whether the court accepts Brown’s claim of self-defense under Florida law.
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